Ford has a good idea. MyKey

[*MAD DOG*]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUbpCW7NNcU

Originally Posted by http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=29172

FORD’S NEW MYKEY SYSTEM HELPS TEENS DRIVE SAFER, CONSERVE FUEL; GIVES PARENTS PEACE OF MIND•MyKeyTM, another innovation from the company that introduced SYNC®, allows parents to limit speed and audio volume to encourage teens to drive safer and improve fuel efficiency
•Harris Interactive Survey shows that many parents would allow teens to drive more often if their vehicle was equipped with MyKey – helping young drivers build road safety experience
•MyKey will debut as a standard feature this summer on the 2010 Ford Focus and will quickly be offered on many other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models
Ford Motor Company is introducing an innovative new technology – called MyKey – designed to help parents encourage their teen-agers to drive safer and more fuel efficiently, and increase safety-belt usage.

Ford’s MyKey feature – which this summer as standard equipment on the 2010 Ford Focus and will quickly become standard on many other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models – allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume. MyKey also encourages safety-belt usage, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour.

“Ford not only offers industry-leading crash protection and crash avoidance systems, we also are committed to developing new technologies such as MyKey that encourage safer driving behavior,” said Susan Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “MyKey can help promote safer driving, particularly among teens, by encouraging seat belt use, limiting speed and reducing distractions.”

MyKey is appealing to parents of teen drivers, including 75 percent who like the speed-limiting feature, 72 percent who like the more insistent safety-belt reminder, and 63 percent who like the audio limit feature, according to a recent Harris Interactive Survey conducted for Ford.

About 50 percent of those who would consider purchasing MyKey also said they would allow their children to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with the new technology. The added seat time can help teens build their driving skills in a more controlled setting, complementing graduated licensing laws that give young drivers more driving freedom as they get older.

More than half of parents surveyed worry that their teen-age children are driving at unsafe speeds, talking on hand-held cell phones or texting while driving, or otherwise driving distracted. More than a third of parents also are concerned that their teens do not always buckle their safety belts when driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding – a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes. Teens also are less likely to wear safety belts than older drivers.

Teens surveyed by Harris said they are largely open to MyKey if it means they will have more freedom to drive. Initially, 67 percent of teens polled said they wouldn’t want MyKey features. However, if using MyKey would lead to greater driving privileges, only 36 percent would object to the technology.

“We’ve upgraded an existing, proven technology – the SecuriLock passive anti-theft system – with some simple software upgrades to develop a new unique feature that we believe will resonate with customers,” said Jim Buczkowski, director, Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering – the same team that developed SYNC in partnership with Microsoft. “We also developed MyKey’s functions in such a way to quickly spread it across multiple vehicle lines, giving us the ability to go mass market in the spirit of other Ford innovations such as safety belts, stability control and SYNC.”

Holding the key

The MyKey system allows the parent to program any key through the vehicle message center, which updates the SecuriLock™ passive anti-theft system. When the MyKey is inserted into the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip in the key and immediately identifies the MyKey code, which enables certain default driving modes, including:

•Persistent Ford Beltminder™ with audio mute. Ford’s Beltminder system typically provides a six-second reminder chime every minute for five minutes. With MyKey, the Beltminder chime continues at the regular interval and the audio system is muted until the safety belt is buckled. A message center display “Buckle Up to Unmute Radio” also appears on the instrument cluster.
•Earlier low-fuel warning. Rather than a warning at 50 miles to empty, MyKey provides a warning at 75 miles to empty.
•If MyKey is in the ignition, features such as Park Aid and BLISTM (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert cannot be deactivated.
Additional MyKey features that can be programmed through the vehicle’s message center setup menu:

•Limited top speed of 80 mph
•Traction control system, that limits tire spin, cannot be deactivated
•Limited audio volume to 44 percent of total volume
•A speed alert chime at 45, 55 or 65 mph
Using MyKey to teach teens to avoid speeding can provide an added benefit – improved fuel economy. Ford research shows that driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph consumes 15 percent less fuel, and mastering other eco-driving habits such as avoiding jackrabbit starts and excessive idling can help improve fuel economy by more than 50 percent.

Safety is the key

MyKey is just one way that Ford is helping teens drive more safely. Ford Motor Company Fund’s Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program helps young motorists master four critical driving skills – hazard recognition, vehicle handling, space management, and speed management – that help address the majority of dangerous driving conditions. More than 3,000 teens have participated in DSFL ride-and-drive events. And more than 500,000 people have used the training course since 2003 on www.drivingskillsforlife.com

[Shroomster]

yes and when the car gets crushed because it couldn't get out of the way of a speeding semi on the interstate, well it'll just lead to more govt. intervention by way of more limiting/hindering of vehicle performances.

[Damo]

Geez, what next?

I mean, if we're going to nanny our kids to this degree, why not just apply a huge roll of bubblewrap around the car for safety too?

A large part of the responsibilities of your kids start when they are toddlers. You cant grow a brat until he's 18, then restrict his driving habits in a car and expect that hes not going to be a self-assured moron on the road.

I would guess that within a month of this system becoming the norm, kids will have found a crack/factory reset and posted it online for all to see.

Im not against safety, but you cant expect to make someone a better driver by restricting their options.

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

yes and when the car gets crushed because it couldn't get out of the way of a speeding semi on the interstate, well it'll just lead to more govt. intervention by way of more limiting/hindering of vehicle performances.

^^^ Good point.
Also, you can bet there will be a way to defeat the system (or at least tweak it), which would in turn create even more accidents.

Then again, it makes Ford look like it's thinking ahead and it's a brilliant move on their part.

[Altitude]

Interesting, but Shroomster makes a really valid point. The first time a young person dies because of the speed limitation all bets are off.

That being said - add in a cell phone jammer to prevent the youngins' from even using their cell phones while driving.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

yes and when the car gets crushed because it couldn't get out of the way of a speeding semi on the interstate, well it'll just lead to more govt. intervention by way of more limiting/hindering of vehicle performances.

are you serious? If a kid puts their self in front of a speeding semi... KNOWING there was a speed limiter... then they obviously were driving dangerously... or impaired in some way.

Plus, you're talking about an extremely small percentage accident. Most accidents happen within a few miles of home, and not at highway speeds.

Lets see a study that compares how many teen drivers get killed by speeding semi-trucks vs how many teens get in accidents where speeding is a factor? Hell... compare it to how many teens end up getting in accidents in which someone is killed.

It's a great idea, i remember speeding excessively as a kid (only at night, but still)... 95% of the time I was a great driver.... it was that 5% of the time that I was driving home trying to make curfew... or at least not be too late. Great tool for parents.

What i think most of you are forgetting is that the part of the brain that is responsible for decision making doesn't fully mature until around age 25...And if there is significant drug use in the kid's history... that part of the brain may never fully develop. Teens make some very stupid decisions, this will save money, innocent bystanders, and even lives.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Damo

I would guess that within a month of this system becoming the norm, kids will have found a crack/factory reset and posted it online for all to see.

if ford wants to, they could make it damn near impossible to hack... secruity screws to keep the key together, a non reprogrammable rom chip that is soldered straight to the pcb, and then make the pcb be multi-layered so only an extremely skilled solderer could mess with it. That would require somebody to have access to many tools not easily accessible to teens (or most adults for that matter), and a lot of knowledge in soldering & programing.

Originally Posted by Damo

Im not against safety, but you cant expect to make someone a better driver by restricting their options.

you really think you would be exactly the same driver you are if you drove a car that could go 0-60 in 3 seconds? You think you really have the self restraint to not use that additional torque & hp in inappropriate ways? Unless you're over 60, you'd be lying if you said "Yes"... and even if you could... it doesn't matter because a Teen can't. I work with teens, I know how they talk, how they act when they are in groups, and when their parents aren't around.

[Damo]

you really think you would be exactly the same driver you are if you drove a car that could go 0-60 in 3 seconds?

I dont, and never have abused the power of higher performance vehicles. Being involved in a write-off when I was younger drove that message home to me very clearly (I wasnt at fault, and the collision was only at 40kpm, but it felt a lot worse.

When you realize how easy it is to lose control of ANY car, and if you are fortunate enough to feel that fear first-hand, even if only for a second, the experience will teach you far more than restricting options on a vehicle, in my opinion.

[sqcomp]

There are very valuable courses offered at racetracks around the world that teach people (not just kids) how to drive in dangerous situations.

[frownonfun]

i think it's a pretty good idea.

and honestly i think some of you are taking it all the wrong way. i mean even as adults our cars come from the factory with a speed limiter. i don't hear most of you crying about that. because i think most folks agree while driving is fun and all, does anyone really need to have access to the absolute possible top speed a car can go on public roads? no.

so i don't see the harm in say limiting a teens top speed to like 70mph or something. i mean jeez. that's what a parents job is!! to slowly introduce them to things. teach moderation. give them a chance to be a little independent but not too much. this sounds like a useful tool to aid in the first years of learning to drive.

and a few questions for those of you who think this is such a terrible idea....

should i be allowed to limit my kids' sugar intake for their own good?
should i be allowed to limit the amount of time they watch tv or play video games?
should i be allowed to limit the amount of time they spend out with friends?

or am i just being a lazy parent because i'm "restricting options." lol. restricting options!!? what a joke.

[Tardis]

I think it's a great idea because they'll think Mom and Dad's car is a boring POS and go buy their own.

[GeneralDon7]

I think this is a good idea. Being a 21 year old, I do have to admit from my own personal experience as well as seeing a lot of people my age, the higher the performance of the vehicle the more they use it. My first car ever was a 96 Geo Metro whos top speed on the highway was maybe 60(uphill was more like 40). I didnt have the option to speed, at least on highways. Also tickets dont seem to be a deterrent anymore to anyone i hear who gets caught speeding, at least in my age bracket, they just shrug it off. I drove to TN with my moms Acura one year which I will say had a lot more pep then my Geo. I got caught speeding in VA doing 80 in a 70, and recieved a 130 ticket as well as a 200 a month increase in my insurance. For me that was one hell of a reason to not ever speed again. I have personally never been in a situation where a runaway semi was a danger to myself. I would rather get out of his way then go faster. But my friend who is a year younger then me did get into an accident with a runaway semi. Mainly because he "thought" he could beat it with speed. He was wrong and ruined the side of his SUV and injured his head, all cause he thought more speed would help. Just my two cents, though i'm sure a lot would disagree with me, to each there own i guess.

[coffiend]

Maybe we should just make decision making robots that install direcltly into the brain. That way we never have to worry about anyone ever making their own decisions.

Sounds good right?

...people will do stupid things regardless of any "safety devices" that are put in place. Posessive parents make for more rebellious youth, and this smartkey crap is one of the silliest things I've heard of.

[frownonfun]

^ so a parent should put no limitations on a child's behavior? and if they do they are being possessive? guess first thing i should do when i get my teen a car is take out those pesky seat belts too. stupid safety devices.

and to think my company requires me to wear safety glasses when i use an angle grinder. or fire retardant clothing when doing hot work. little do they know these safety devices are of no use because people do stupid things anyway.

[90tsi]

i think if you have a good enough "control" on your kids they'll be a lil more responsible with there choices on the road... think to when we were all 16 and 17 with fresh licsenses and stuff we had done, i know whenever i screwed up i got beat within an inch or so of my life and my keys were ganked from me.... but with that said that just seems like it promotes "do as i say, not as i do" which is no way to raise a kid.

im sorry but im a huge believer in natural selection... no disrespect to anyone , but if no one has the sense to use a safety device or item then you get whats coming to you.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by 90tsi

i think if you have a good enough "control" on your kids they'll be a lil more responsible with there choices on the road... think to when we were all 16 and 17 with fresh licsenses and stuff we had done, i know whenever i screwed up i got beat within an inch or so of my life and my keys were ganked from me.... but with that said that just seems like it promotes "do as i say, not as i do" which is no way to raise a kid.

im sorry but im a huge believer in natural selection... no disrespect to anyone , but if no one has the sense to use a safety device or item then you get whats coming to you.

The majority of parents out there don't have "good enough control" over their kids tho... the time parents spend with their kids keeps dropping, thus our society see more and more problems with our youth as time goes on.


I'm all for natural selection too, but when it comes to driving, the dumbest ones aren't the only ones that get killed... the dumb take the smart with them too often. That isn't natural selection.

[slothman86]

Does it cost extra? How about just teach your children how to drive responsibly in their used car that they paid for themselves... I'd be damned if I bought my child a brand new car...or let them drive mine...